Mandatory Recycling Predicted

Du Page County residents someday will probably have to sort their garbage before setting it out at the curb so that waste haulers can send some of it to recycling plants.

Only a few recycling programs now operate in Du Page, and those are voluntary. But in coming years, recycling programs most likely will be expanded to include all of Du Page and will be made mandatory, according to officials working on a long-term solid-waste management plan for the county.

Such a plan could require direct county involvement and some county funding, said Lloyd Renfro, chairman of the Du Page County Solid Waste Committee.

Renfro appointed a subcommittee Wednesday to review the state of waste recycling in Du Page and suggest an attainable recycling goal to the parent committee when it meets again July 8.

The committee has set Oct. 1 as the date by which it hopes to have prepared a first draft of its solid-waste plan for the county. A recycling strategy will be one element of the plan.

The committee tentatively has agreed on building incinerators to replace the county`s two garbage dumps, which could be filled and closed by 1993.

But incinerators are expensive to build and operate, and committee members have concluded that Du Page must reduce the amount of garbage by 20 percent or more.

The only practical way to do that is by recycling as much garbage as possible, including such things as metal, glass and newspapers. Although it is possible to build mechanical sorters, the cheapest way to segregate recyclable trash from that bound for the county furnaces is for the homeowners to do it by hand at the trash can, according to consultants hired to study the problem. A report on possible recycling alternatives was presented to the committee Wednesday by Envirodyne Engineers Inc. of Chicago.

Based on research by Envirodyne and potential changes in state law that would mandate greater recycling efforts, Renfro said it might be time to put more muscle in a resolution passed by the county board last year that vaguely recommends recycling as one of the many solutions to the growing garbage problem.

Du Page is looking for a plan to reduce by 20 percent or more the volume of garbage the county is required to bury or burn.

According to a report from Michael O`Brien, an Envirodyne engineer, Du Page residents currently recycle only about 2 percent of their garbage. Only about 0.7 percent of all the county`s garbage, including commercial and industrial refuse, is recycled, O`Brien said.

He gave the committee several possible recycling options, including combinations of composting, dropoff and curbside programs and commercial outreach programs.

Some recycling programs are subsidized by the government so cash incentives or reduced dumping fees can be offered to those who participate.

Recycling as a conservation and environmental issue emerged in the early 1960s, but interest in such programs has varied since then, generally as markets for recyclable material have fluctuated. But the rapid filling of Du Page dumps and the difficulty in finding locations for new dumps have revived county officials` interest in recycling.

Steven Dunn, the county`s environmental control officer, suggested Wednesday that Du Page should consider recycling even though it is a money-losing proposition.

``It costs money to recycle,`` Dunn said. ``It`s not a monetary decision; it`s more of a political decision.``

Voluntary recycling efforts in parts of Du Page County have worked to varying degrees. There are about 10 communities in Du Page with some kind of curbside or dropoff recycling program.

Experts in the field, such as George Brabec, of the North Shore Ecology Center, and Anne Aitchison, chairman of Naperville`s recycling center, said efforts to provide public education and a framework for participation in voluntary recycling programs might make a mandated program unnecessary.

``People generally want to help,`` but they look to government to show them the way, Brabec told the committee.